Is it only ornamental? And why are they usually webbed feet (or at least they are in my experience)?

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 day ago

    Yeah, see: when you’re looking at these highly ornate antiques, it’s not the wealth of the craftsman on display; it’s the wealth of his customer.

        • slackassassin@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          13 hours ago

          I hear ya. There’s a line somewhere when people become shitty rich. I’m just not sure that line is at … has a nice dining room table with carved feet or some shit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

          • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            12 hours ago

            Let me clarify this part of my thinking: That line has moved a lot since the lifetime of Thomas Chippendale.

            When you think about what it would take to build an ornately carved mahogany highboy with a high gloss varnish in 1750 versus today, including logging, transporting exotic wood around the planet, the actual woodworking…hell, just compare applying a shellac french polish versus spray lacquer today.

            • slackassassin@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              11 hours ago

              It’s just not ubiquitous. And to say that paying a woodworker to carve intricate details is a useless waste of their time strikes as insulting to the craftsman in any time period.

              I mean, even under the most cynical representation, the patrons of the classical period were a bunch of wankers too. But I wouldn’t besmirch the musicians, or the music, or what came of it in modern times.